Piaget Stages of Cognitive Development

ThePiagetstagesofdevelopmentisablueprintthatdescribesthestagesofnormalintellectualdevelopment,frominfancythroughadulthood.Thisincludesthought,judgment,andknowledge.ThestageswerenamedafterpsychologistanddevelopmentalbiologistJeanPiaget,whorecordedtheintellectualdevelopmentandabilitiesofinfants,children,andteens.Piaget'sfourstagesofintellectual(orcognitive)developmentare:Sensorimotor.Birththroughages18-24months.Preoperational.Toddlerhood(18-24months)throughearlychildhood(age7).Concreteoperational.Ages7to12.Formaloperational.Adolescencethroughadulthood.Piagetacknowledgedthatsomechildrenmaypassthroughthestagesatdifferentagesthantheaveragesnotedaboveandthatsomechildrenmayshowcharacteristicsofmorethanonestageatagiventime.Butheinsistedthatcognitivedevelopmentalwaysfollowsthissequence,thatstagescannotbeskipped,andthateachstageismarkedbynewintellectualabilitiesandamorecomplexunderstandingoftheworld.SensorimotorStageDuringtheearlystages,infantsareonlyawareofwhatisimmediatelyinfrontofthem.Theyfocusonwhattheysee,whattheyaredoing,andphysicalinteractionswiththeirimmediateenvironment.Becausetheydon'tyetknowhowthingsreact,they'reconstantlyexperimentingwithactivitiessuchasshakingorthrowingthings,puttingthingsintheirmouths,andlearningabouttheworldthroughtrialanderror.Thelaterstagesincludegoal-orientedbehaviorwhichbringsaboutadesiredresult.Ataboutage7to9months,infantsbegintorealizethatanobjectexistsevenifitcannolongerbeseen.Thisimportantmilestone--knownasobjectpermanence--isasignthatmemoryisdeveloping.Afterinfantsstartcrawling,standing,andwalking,theirincreasedphysicalmobilityleadstoincreasedcognitivedevelopment.Neartheendofthesensorimotorstage,infantsreachanotherimportantmilestone--earlylanguagedevelopment,asignthattheyaredevelopingsomesymbolicabilities.PreoperationalStageDuringthisstage,youngchildrenareabletothinkaboutthingssymbolically.Theirlanguageusebecomesmoremature.Theyalsodevelopmemoryandimagination,whichallowsthemtounderstandthedifferencebetweenpastandfuture,andengageinmake-believe.Buttheirthinkingisbasedonintuitionandstillnotcompletelylogical.Theycannotyetgraspmorecomplexconceptssuchascauseandeffect,time,andcomparison.ConcreteOperationalStageAtthistime,elementary-ageandpreadolescentchildrendemonstratelogical,concretereasoning.Children'sthinkingbecomeslessegocentricandtheyareincreasinglyawareofexternalevents.Theybegintorealizethatone'sownthoughtsandfeelingsareuniqueandmaynotbesharedbyothersormaynotevenbepartofreality.Childrenalsodevelopoperationalthinking--theabilitytoperformreversiblementalactions.Duringthisstage,however,mostchildrenstillcan'ttackleaproblemwithseveralvariablesinasystematicway.FormalOperationalStageAdolescentswhoreachthisfourthstageofintellectualdevelopmentareabletologicallyusesymbolsrelatedtoabstractconcepts,suchasalgebraandscience.Theycanthinkaboutmultiplevariablesinsystematicways,formulatehypotheses,andconsiderpossibilities.Theyalsocanponderabstractrelationshipsandconceptssuchasjustice.AlthoughPiagetbelievedinlifelongintellectualdevelopment,heinsistedthattheformaloperationalstageisthefinalstageofcognitivedevelopment,andthatcontinuedintellectualdevelopmentinadultsdependsontheaccumulationofknowledge.